Stories about Environment from April, 2006
Ukraine, Belarus: Chernobyl Links
Megan Case posts links to Chernobyl-related websites and writes about her own memories of 1986.
Hong Kong: Health hazard ignored
sevenyearsinChina‘s Han Girl stayed up late one night last week to show us why it wasn't in Hong Kong television station TVB's best interest to cover a recent report from Greenpeace which found levels of pesticides—some banned in the European Union—in vegetables sold in the city's two largest supermarkets at...
China: America's oil foe
China Confidential‘s Confidential Reporter continues to make the case that China and the United States are locked in a race to the bottom of the world's oil barrel. “Like a player in a modern version of the Great Game—the classic contest between the British empire and Czarist Russia for mastery...
French Antilles: Banana Drama
InternetRapide.com points (FR) to recent efforts to promote Martinique and Guadeloupe bananas, including a commercial and website featuring athletes from the two islands. The blogger cites increased competition from American corporations and international regulations limiting French government subsidies as threats. Caribbean Free Radio gave the commercial a thumbs up.
Ukraine: One Man's Chernobyl 20 Years On
Stefan at Dykun writes about a Ukrainian relative who was sent to work in Chernobyl 20 years ago: he's in his 40s now but walks with a cane. “Mykhajlo wears what must count as the thickest glasses ever worn by a human being–they should definitely find a place in a...
Japan: Tokyo's consecutive earthquakes
A series of small earthquakes in Tokyo every day this past week have left Jesse Jace at Chorus, Isolate, Confirm a little shaken up: “As if to punctuate the phenomenon with an extra-heavy bullet point, there was a sudden tremor no more than five seconds after I had the idea...
China: Today's Canton captured
Frances at Supernaut continues with the visual and textual representating of Guangzhou, one of China's largest cities, with posts on an upcoming DJ delight, the city's third modern dance festival, a photo tour through the largely undeveloped old city and the sci-fi endlessness of the south side of the Pearl...
African women this week.
Congratulations to Kenyan women bloggers who have won Kenya Unlimited Kaybee awards 2006. Mshairi for best poetry blog; Gussaurus for best new blog and most interactive blog; Mama's Junkyard for best design; Au Lait for blogger one would most like to meet; and Kenyan Pundit for best political blog. Nigerian...
Poland: GM Crops
The beatroot writes that Polish conservatives have joined forces with liberals to fight against GM crops.
Zimbabwe: returning land to white farmers
Zimbabwean Blogger, The Bearded Man reports that the government plans to take back land from some 2000 black farmers who have failed to farm and hand the land back to the white farmers...”In a major policy reversal and the clearest admission yet by the Harare government that its controversial land...
Turkmenistan: Transport
neweurasia reports on Turkmenistan's efforts to increase gas exports, saying that it is unlikely it will be able to meet its contractual obligations for selling gas anytime soon.
Trinidad & Tobago: Sounds of burning bush
Caribbean Free Radio posts a short audio clip of the sound of bamboo bursting and other bush fire-related noises.
Trinidad & Tobago: Smelter news
At the Rights Action Group T&T blog, set up to aggregate the dialogue around a controversial aluminium smelter project in southern Trinidad, an article on the non-attendance of a the National Energy Corporation chairman at an important meeting, a discussion of the environmental impact of a smelter on a community...
Haiti: Cattle investments
“Rony was forced to bring the cow to market before it was time. Kind of like dumping all of your Apple shares, prior to the IPOD or all of your 3M shares prior to Scotch tape,” writes the Livesay Haiti Weblog from La Digue, in its account of the trials...
Barbados: Sugar cane industry
In GS's humble opinion, Barbados's refusal to abandon its sugar industry is a “smart move”.
Africa: Working initiatives
Ethiopian diasporan blogger, The Concoction looks at some African initiatives which have failed such as the OAU and Commission for Africa, while ordinary people are taking up their own local initiatives and making them work.
Ukraine, Belarus: Interview With Translator of “Voices of Chernobyl”
Languor Management links to Maud Newton's short email interview with Keith Gessen, English translator of Svetlana's Alexievich's Voices of Chernobyl, which won this year's National Book Critics Circle award for nonfiction.”
Iran: Nuclear & Safety
Inja va Aknoun (means Here & Now) writes about nuclear technology & security related questions (Persian). He says nobody in Iran talks about the safety of people who live in the neighbourhood of nuclear enrichment buildings.
China: Dusty discussion
A storm in the Chinese blogsphere this week. Not the heated kind, though—this one's meteorological. A sandstorm has been raging through Beijing and parts of Northern China since April 10. Here are three posts from the last four days: April 16 DARKS Temporary Base blog 来到西安快两年了 却是在几天前才遇上了沙尘暴 尽管感觉很恶劣 还是如同第一次见到雪那样大惊小怪起来 I've...
Russia: Yukos Lawyer Bakhmina Sentenced
David McDuff of A Step At A Time provides links to the news about Svetlana Bakhmina's sentencing. Bakhmina, 35, used to be a Yukos lawyer and is the mother of two young children. Today, she has received a 7-year prison sentence.
China: Race for oil
“[B]y 2020,” writes the China Confidential blogger-reporter, “the world's most populous nation will have to import 70 percent of its oil. Soaring demand for oil is certain to be accompanied by increased competition for secure oil supplies.” “China's biggest competitor for oil, of course, is the US,” the blogger adds.
